||| FROM DON WALTERS for ORCAS EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION |||
The Orcas Early Childhood Education Initiative steering committee (ECEI) met in June and August and distributed $69,670 to the three early-learning preschools on Orcas Island: Kaleidoscope/Forest School, Orcas Island Children’s House, and Orcas Montessori. This funding provides 5,300 hours of access for 27 preschool students who need financial support for the Summer and Fall Quarters of 2024 (July 1 – December 31). Currently, nearly 75% of the preschool’s ~100 total students are eligible for some kind of support. A central purpose of ECEI is to cover the financial gap between available public funding and actual education costs.
Each of the three schools are state-licensed, early learning facilities that collectively provide excellent education opportunities for over 100 young Orcasonians.
ECEI strives to provide all Orcas Island’s preschool students with access to high quality education. ECEI does this by bringing together lead educators and board members from the three preschools, along with knowledgeable community members and expert advisors to monitor, review, and approve educator-developed strategies to strengthen access and quality, and allocate donor-provided funds to implement these strategies.
Thanks to generous donors, ECEI has been able to fund nearly 85,000 hours of Early Learning access, since its inception in 2014. The children and families of Orcas Island thank you for all of your support of quality early learning opportunities!
With generous donations from the Orcas community, ECEI can continue to fund much needed access to quality early learning for our island youngsters. To donate, please visit the ECEI donation page on the OICF website.
One of those members of the San Juan community who has been so helpful to ECEI is The United Way of San Juan County. Our local United Way has been extremely active in its support of Early Childhood Education on Orcas- both through direct support of the schools and through its ongoing support of the Early Childhood Education Initiative. The United Way’s contribution to ECEI this year has helped us once again reach our goal of providing preschool access to all those in need on Orcas Island.
The next quarterly ECEI Steering Committee Meeting will be held in December.
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